Novak Djokovic’s Olympics opponent tries to quit mid-match and hand racket to fan | Tennis | Sport

Novak Djokovic left his Olympic opponent so lost that he started offering up his racket to members of the crowd.

Matthew Ebden resorted to drastic measures after he was bagelled in just 24 minutes during the first set and couldn’t win a game against the relentless world No. 2.

The Australian – who specialises in doubles and only got into the singles draw as an alternate – tried to quit and get a fan to sub in for him after going 0-6 down.

Currently the world No. 3 in doubles, Ebden’s singles game clearly needed some work. The 36-year-old had not played a singles match since the Winston-Salem qualifiers in 2022, and it showed.

He managed to push Djokovic to deuce in the top seed’s opening service game but that was as far as he got. The 24-time Grand Slam champion broke Ebden three times in the first set to take it without dropping a game.

The fans inside Court Philippe-Chatrier tried to push Ebden on as he stepped up to serve at the beginning of the second but it was of no use. All he could do was throw in an underarm serve before getting broken again.

The doubles star got the fans involved, attempting to hand them his racket to see if anyone else stood a better chance against the Serb.

Ebden finally took a 30-0 lead on his serve while trailing 0-6 0-2 and the stadium erupted. He put his arms out in celebration but mistimed an easy volley, sending the ball out of the tramlines. But he still couldn’t get on the board as Djokovic converted his third break point.

Finally, after 46 minutes, Ebden won his first game. But it was too little, too late for the singles rookie. Serving to stay in the match at 1-5 in the second set, Djokovic set up his first match point with a drop shot.